Fresno State Athletics
The Road Less Traveled
8/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 9, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - When it comes to playing "anyone, anytime , anywhere", the Fresno State Bulldogs are second to none.
That will again be in the case in the 2009 season as the Dogs will travel for seven road games, the second straight year with that many road games, and will travel nearly 24,000 miles and play in all but one United States time zone.
Taking the road less traveled is nothing new for this team, however it is almost always significantly longer.
The early part of the schedule has the Dogs traveling almost 15,000 miles - 14,422 to be exact - in the first three road games and the first five weeks of the season.
Those road trips, at Wisconsin, Cincinnati and Hawaii also come with unique game times. The Dogs will play the Badgers and Bearcats at 9 a.m. PT and for the Warriors, a late night 9 p.m. PT kickoff time. The Dogs complete the season with a game at Illinois on Dec. 5, which will be played at 9:30 a.m. PT. When the regular season ends, the Dogs will have traveled 23,354 miles.
In comparison, Ohio State will travel just 2,713 miles for its road games this season.
With a team and travel party of nearly 150 members and literally tons of equipment, traveling brings some extra special challenges.
Preparing a young team to be ready to perform at a high level at such odd times is also unique. Something Hill and his staff have worked through in years past.
In 2003 the Dogs played road games at No. 13 Tennessee and No. 1 Oklahoma. Last year, the Dogs road trips took them to Piscataway, New Jersey and Toledo, Ohio.
The Dogs have paid their traveling dues and will begin to get some relief in the 2010 season with seven home games and just five on the road. The Dogs will host Cal Poly, Illinois and Cincinnati with one non-conference road game, at Mississippi. In the early part of the next decade, the Dogs will welcome Nebraska, Mississippi, Colorado and Rutgers to Bulldog Stadium.
The WAC schedule will again require extensive travel. The road games are at Hawaii, New Mexico State, Idaho and Newada. Since the teams can't fly into either Moscow, Idaho or Las Cruces, New Mexico, a plane flight and long bus ride are required to get the team and equipment to those locations.
For the first time in years, the Dogs will be taking a bus to Reno, Nevada. In year's past the team took a charter flight that was less than an hour trip one-way.
The college football season will be an interesting ride in 2009, and for the Fresno State Bulldogs it will be a very long road.
HILL PLEASED WITH PRACTICES
On the practice field, Hill has been pleased with team's performance after Sunday morning's practice.
"We have had two very good practices and we got better as a team today," Hill said. "We have done two straight practices with a single offensive turnover. That's great concentration and execution by the guys. On the flip side, we would like to see the defense start to force some turnovers and creating takeaways."
The Dogs return to practice on Monday morning at 9 a.m. It will be the first practice of contact as the players will be in full pads for the team this fall.
Fans are welcome to attend practice sessions through the August 15 scrimmage in Bulldog Stadium. After that date, all practice sessions will be closed. Fans are asked to remain on the hillside that surrounds the practice facility and no video cameras, including cell phones with video capacity, are permitted. Fresno State asks that fans not post video practice highlights on the internet, as it could help opponents prepare when they play the Bulldogs.
FRESNO STATE FACT: There are 29 former Bulldogs in NFL training camps, most of any non-BCS conference school. That number is pretty high among programs in the west, just one fewer than UCLA (30). Compared to other schools, Fresno State is making an impact on NFL rosters: Colorado (29), Oregon State (27), Stanford (26), Washington (24), Arizona (23), Utah (22), Washington State (21), BYU (19), Missouri (17), TCU (17), San Jose State (16), Boise State (16), Texas Tech (14) and Houston (11). Fresno State has three quarterbacks on NFL rosters for the 2009 season, ranking among the most by any college in the nation. Only USC (5) and Oregon (4) have more current quarterbacks in the NFL. Fresno State is tied for third with Michigan, Purdue, Washington, Louisville and Boston College.
"We Are Your Team" - The `Dogs will be starting their 2009 Football season off right with Football Fiesta Night on Saturday, September 5th at 7pm when the UC Davis Aggies come to town. Football Fiesta Family Pack tickets are available now - the package includes four game tickets, a gift coupon to the Bulldog Shop, and a $4 drink and hotdog special. To inquire about the Football Fiesta Family Pack, contact the Bulldog Ticket Office at 559-278-DOGS.
